


School Daze

by TheScholarlyStrumpet (equipoise)



Series: G-Rated Tumblr Prompt-a-thon [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-06
Updated: 2015-10-06
Packaged: 2018-04-25 02:46:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4943701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/equipoise/pseuds/TheScholarlyStrumpet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tumblr prompt: Rumbelle teenagers. Fluff.</p><p>(IT'S SO FLUFFY!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	School Daze

Raymond Gold had known Belle French for about 3 years, 4 months, 15 days, 10 hours, 35 minutes, and 24 seconds (give or take). He had been completely, insensibly, hopelessly in love with her for about 3 years, 4 months, 15 days, 10 hours, 35 minutes, and 22 seconds (give or take). He was very good with numbers, so he was able to calculate these things to within a pretty decent margin of error. What he did not do well was put any of this information to any kind of use.

Unless sitting at his desk in class, berating himself for not asking Belle to yet another school dance was to be considered useful.

This was obviously not the case.

He had met Belle after she transferred to his high school. She was, at first, just known to him as “the other foreign kid.” They didn’t have any classes together Freshman year, but he passed her in the hall now and again. It was not until the day he was being bullied (again) for his accent (or maybe his hair, his lame leg, or perhaps the fact he lived with two aunts due to having a deadbeat dad and absent mother – there were any number of wounds to pick at) that he actually heard Belle French speak.

Killian Jones, known bully, and his sleazy sidekick, Keith, were taunting Raymond. They had backed him up against his open locker and were threatening to stuff him inside. There was a small group of other students standing idly by, either enjoying the spectacle or too afraid to intervene, lest they be targeted instead. Not a teacher in sight.

Raymond was breathing hard, scrabbling to gain leverage against the cold metal sides of the locker. He had long since stopped asking them to leave him be or trying to fight back. They were both almost a head taller than he and built for athletics. The only thing Raymond was built for was apparently fitting inside a locker.

A strong, clear voice broke through the mayhem. “You get the hell away from him, you animals!”

In a whirlwind of blue dress and auburn hair, he found his bullies had fallen back, dragged away by what looked like a tiny hand gripping each by an ear. Both boys stood, rubbing their respective ears, mouths agape as a girl who was no taller than their chests unleashed a furious litany of admonishments.

Killian recovered faster, advancing on her menacingly. He raised his hand as though to slap her face when an even bigger lad stepped forward from the crowd and grabbed Killian’s wrist. It was an upperclassman named Gaston. He was French Canadian but no one dared call him one of the “foreign kids” due to the fact that he was built like a moose. He was a star football player and everyone assumed he’d go on to play pro in college. Which was lucky for him, as he reportedly also had the mental capacity of a moose.

“You never hit a girl, dude. Bad form.” The usually silent boy (man, really, at that size) asserted, shoving Killian rather roughly into his companion.

As the crowd of onlookers scattered, Belle pulled Raymond back onto his feet. By this point, he had been in love with her almost a whole 5 minutes. He stared at her, too dazed to figure out what to say.

“You okay, Raymond?”

“You know my name?” he managed, at last.

“Of course,” she smiled and nudged him with her elbow. “Us foreign kids gotta stick together.” She winked and turned back to the hulking Gaston who blushed when she thanked him for his help. Before Raymond could fully take stock of what was happening, Gaston had asked Belle to the movies and Raymond watched them walk away together.

As luck would have it, Belle needed a Maths tutor her Sophmore year. She was a whiz kid with words but Math had never been a strong suit. Raymond happily offered his assistance. In return, Belle would bake him cookies or proofread his English essays. It was a well-made deal and allotted him extra time in her company. They became fast friends, despite the fact he found it incredibly hard to form words whenever she was near. His only regret was that she was involved with Gaston the whole time.

But by senior year, Gaston went away to college and Belle was a free agent. His sports scholarship took him several states away, a fact for which Raymond was selfishly very grateful. Belle didn’t seem too broken up about ending the relationship.

Now was the perfect opportunity. Or would have been. If Raymond was able to get the right words out to ask Belle to homecoming. They ate together at lunch every day and took several Honors courses with one another. He had ample opportunity. What he lacked was the courage.

The bullies had mostly left him alone after that incident with Belle and Gaston. To his delight, in their senior year, Killian dropped out to join the navy. Without his jeering partner in crime, Keith was nothing but a slug, easily avoided or stepped over.

All the same, Raymond’s confidence had taken too many low blows over the years. He struggled to believe that someone as remarkable as Belle French would even be his friend let alone… something more. So, he suffered in silence as day after day Belle waltzed through his life with her sunny smiles and kind words (in that accent that made his toes curl).

The bell rang and he made his way slowly to the front of the building to wait for Belle. They were in a different homeroom, this year, but they lived close enough to one another to walk to and from school together. His leg had been in a brace since it was mangled in a car accident when he was a child, but she never made him feel bad about the slow pace he was forced to set.

There she was, descending the stairs in a yellow dress that flounced as she walked. Her face lit up as she saw him and she waved.

“Sorry, had a quick question for Ms. Nova. Hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long.” She placed a hand on his shoulder and brushed her lips gently against his cheek.

He inhaled her scent, light and floral, and hid his trembling hands behind his back. “There’s no wait in the world too long for that.”

Belle’s cheeks tinged pink. “Charmer.” She flicked a fingertip lightly over the tip of his nose.

“I try.” He had spent his last class daydreaming about Belle and absentmindedly  folding his notebook paper into a rose. He produced this from his pocket and held it aloft. “Speaking of which… This is, uh, for you. If you’ll have it.”

Belle made a little noise of delight and gave him a mock curtsy as she accepted the present. “Ray, it’s beautiful!”

His face was hot as he turned his gaze to his toes and shrugged. His hands fidgeted at his sides. Along with math, he’d always been good with his hands. He liked making things. It helped with the restlessness of his nature. Belle gathered his hands in hers and he braved a look back up at her face.

“Ray…” Belle took a breath, nibbling her plump lower lip.

He raised both eyebrows, questioningly.

“I stopped to ask Ms. Nova if we could do something a little different for our senior year. For Homecoming.”  Belle was on the dance committee and Astrid Nova was the faculty chair.

Not exactly sure what this had to do with him, Raymond nodded dumbly.

“I had an idea that the school hasn’t done in a while. Storybrooke can be a little old-fashioned, you know.” Her dark lashes fluttered to her cheeks and then back up. “I asked her if we could have a Sadie Hawkin’s dance this year. Where the girls ask the boys, instead of the other way around.” Her grip on his hands tightened as her eyes searched his.

Her eyes were so stunningly, miraculously blue, Raymond’s knees felt weak. He forced himself to breathe. “Aye. I’ve heard of it…”

“She agreed it would be fun. So, we’ve added it to the agenda. Which means… I’ll need a date.” She looked at him pointedly.

His heart stopped. Did she mean? Could she possibly….? His eyes went wide and round. “Yes?” he whispered, barely capable of processing this moment.

She leaned in, so close they were breathing the same breath. “Raymond Gold, would you come to the dance with me?”

Summoning up every ounce of courage he could, Raymond closed the space between them and pressed his lips to hers.

Belle reacted immediately, throwing her arms around his neck to pull him closer.

The rest of the world around them ceased to exist as their racing hearts fell into sync. It was a moment of pure, perfect bliss. They broke apart breathless, still embracing.

Belle giggled. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Too happy to speak, Raymond leaned in to capture her lips once more. 


End file.
